Event

*We encourage everyone to bring their chef knife from home to sharpen. For the Japanese Knife Skills we will use a special yanagiba knife that the instructor will loan you. After the class there will be knives for sale.*

In this three hour intensive we invited the pros from Bernal Cutlery to show us their skills. Remember- the most important thing in the kitchen is having a sharp knife! The second most important thing is knowing how to use it.

In this intimate class each student will get the opportunity to sharpen their own knives on wet stones and learn the how-to's behind doing it perfectly at home. Students will be shown the basic techniques for sharpening western style "double beveled" knives and get personalized instruction as they sharpen their own knives.

We will also tackle Japanese style vegetable preparation and garnish knife skills using a single beveled yanagiba (most commonly used with sashimi preparation) including katsuramuki peeling technique using cucumber, daikon and apples. The Japanese vegetable garnish knife technique brings out the vegetable's flavor and is designed to work with and improve texture. We will focus on knife technique which will help the student to work safer faster and cleaner. We will provide a yanagiba knife to students who do not have one, please specify if you are left handed by emailing olivia@18reasons.org.

Meet the instructors:Josh Donald has logged in over 10,000 hours of sharpening as the proprietor of Bernal Cutlery. Josh spends a lot of time geeking out, researching old knives and trying out his newest Japanese, French, and vintage finds in his home kitchen to the delight of his wife Kelly, and often to the consternation of his sons. And like Albert Einstein, Josh owns 12 identical sets of the same outfit and has never paid for a haircut.

Taka Tozawa, a native of Tokyo, Japan who has lived in San Francisco for over 10 years. Taka's family came from Tohoku in the north of Japan where the local food made a big impression as a child. He began cooking with his mom when he was 10 and knew then and there it was something he wanted to do.